Balkan coastlife and baltic solarpower

A lot has happened since my trip to Solvis in Croatia. As my Ukraine project fell through, I found myself with over 2 weeks of free time to travel before my trip to
Lithuania. I made the most of it!

Coolkids
at the roof

I went straight to Belgrade in Serbia. I ́m not sure what I expected of Belgrade, but I surely wasn’t impressed. Not a place I would go back to at all. After spending just one night and day there, I decided to take the night
train to Montenegro straight away.

Montenegro on the other hand, was absolutely amazing! I liked it so much I stayed for 5 days! The beaches were super nice, with the clearest water you could ever imagine. The old town was beautiful and I made some
great friends there. Instead of going out clubbing, we all just went to the beach and sat there and had wine and went for a swim.

Old Town View in Budva, Montenegro. Look at this incredible water

Didn´t mind taking a swim

Explored the old town in Kotor as well. I love these little towns

Albania was also such a gem. The friends I made were the best, and I decided to skip North Macedonia and instead go on a roadtrip down the Albanian
coast with some of them. I also joined them to Corfu in Greece. Afterwards I went to Thessaloniki in Greece and had a really great time there as well.

Incredible views in Ksamil in Albania. I can´t believe there aren´t more tourists here.

just look at this water

Corfu in Greece. My friends did some cliffdiving

I repelled down waterfalls in mount Olympus. You know Greeces talles mountan, where the greek Gods lived?

So fun sliding down the waterfalls

Also went for a swim in the last waterfall

And we also celebrated Pride in Thessaloniki in Greece. So much fun!

Making my way up to Lithuania, I stopped by Moldova, Ukraine and Poland. This was fast travel and a lot of sightseeing.

The eternal flame in Moldova. It burns forever, for those who lost
their lives in WW2.

Ukraine really
surprised me! Lviv was absolutely stunning!

Poland was also really nice! I went to both Krakow and Warsaw.

I also spent 3 days in Lithuania before my visit to SoliTek. Andrejs picked me up at the hostel, and we went to their HQ a short trip out of town. We started the day with coffee
and croassaints and meeting several of his coworkers.

Took a daytrip til Trakai outside of Vilnius in Lithuania

SoliTek researches, develops, manufactures, sells and installs solar cells & panels. Any size project, any panel type. Their specialization is EU manufactured Glass-Glass
panels, designed for rooftops. Most of their costumers are in Europe, which I think is good, as the shorter the transport distance, the lower the carbon footprint will be. Buying close to home is almost always better for the climate.

Ready to learn some more solar power at SoliTek

We
began the day by taking a tour of their factory. The factory actually also doubles as a CD factory. I didn’t even know CD ́s were still being produced and didn’t expect to ever see a CD machine in my lifetime.

Me and Andrejs

The factory was in the same building as their office,
and 8 years ago when it was built, it was one of the most energy efficient buildings in Europe. Back in Norway I work as an energy advisor in Entro AS, who focuses exactly on the energy efficiency in buildings. So I made them take me through all the technical
rooms in the building. It gets both its heating and cooling system from Geothermal wells drilled deep into the earth under it, and has solar power all over the roof. My kind of building for sure!

Outside the factory

Looking into the factory

Just looking through one of their modules

Factory tour

Rooftop of the
SoliTek building

After lunch they had a little fun activity for me to try. A little module testing!They put out two different modules, one standard and one glass-glass one (a module with glass on both sides). Then they gave me a hammer
and told me to test the strength of the modules. I hammered with all my strength on the glass and it didn’t even make a scratch. Andrejs managed to break the standard module, but he is obviously a bit stronger than me. After like 10+ tries I finally
managed to brake it. But only the back glass of the glass-glass module. As only the back glass broke, the module would still work 100%. I didn’t expect them to be so hard to break. Definetly learned something new today, and also got a little bit of aggression
out, haha.

I don´t look all that agressive
here, but in the videos I´m really hammering hard here. Barely made a scratch on the module.

When we were done with our little module testing session, they took me to a current project they are doing. A famous Lithuanian race car driver
won a price when he decided to put solar power on his service truck instead of a dieselgenerator. Now he also decided to put solar on his own roof. He lived on the top floor of an old apartment building, and were putting glass-glass modules on his roof. I
got to climb up on the roof to see the installation in progress. The view was amazing. Probably the best view of Vilnius.

Visiting PV Module producer Solvis in Croatia

Getting from Issol in Belgium to Solvis in Croatia was quite the trip. It´s very far to go without a flight. It started by a 22 hour busride to Vienna.
A long day in other words. Not my favourite part of the eurotrip.

Renewable sunset on my 22 hour busride

But Vienna was beautiful of course. I spent a few days there, and also went for a trip to Bratisava, as its literally next door. I really liked both cities!

Exploring Vienna

Bratislava City views

On my way to Croatia I also stopped by Slovenia, and liked it so
much I ended up staying for 6 days in the capital, Ljubljana! Slovenia really surprised me, and I think it might have been my favourite country in Europe so far! It´s definetly a place I want to go back to, and explore some more! I feel like this whole
eurotrip (as I´m travelling so fast) is like a teaser to find out which countries I want to go back to later.

The incredible beauty of Lake Bled. The colour of the lake was insane.

We hiked up to the castle to get a better view of the island

Bled Castle, up on the hill. So beautiful!

Just look at this colour. The water was super cold so we didn’t swim, but it sure looked tempting!

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia was so amazing! No cars in the entire inside of the city!

We hiked up to the castle in Ljubljana every single evening to watch the sunset from there. We brought wine and snacks and sat there and enjoyed the beautiful city and sunset. I fell in love with Slovenia.

I
arrived in Varazdin, Croatia after a short 2-3 hour busride from Slovenia. Petar from Solvis picked me up at my hostel, and took me to their headquarter, just a short trip out of town.

I was the only guest at my hostel in Varazdin. Not really a touristy city, but that didn’t stop the hostel hosts from making the breakfast in full size. All of this food was for me…

Solvis is
a PV module producer, located in Varazdin, in north-east Croatia. They produce standard solar panels, but also do some custom made ones and BIPV projects. In their HQ they have both their office, factory and storage, surrounded by beautiful green fields. Their
owner even has a small fenced garden for his dogs to run around in. Lucky for Solvis, their production has increased so much they are growing out of the building and will hopefully move to a second location soon as well. I guess they are doing good!

We started the day with coffee and a presentation of the company in their “showroom”. Their meeting room was filled with different module types as examples of what they have
done for their customers. I love checking out these showrooms. I find it so interesting to see all the different ways one can use a solar panel. All the different sizes, shapes, coatings, colours and frames are all examples of all the possibilities solar PV
gives us. I love the extreme diversity and all the potential this type of power production poses to the world.

A small part of the showroom

A miniature model of their solar palm! I actually saw these ones when I was in Dubai! They are used in parks for people to charge their phones in.

Solar bench for a park. Same function as the palm. Charging your phone.

Peter took me through their factory. This was actually the first factory where I was allowed to take as many photos and videos as I
wanted in. This of course made me super excited to finally be able to share the inside of a factory with the blog. All companies I have visited have been happy to show me their factory, but I haven’t been able to share any of the photos or videos publicly.

Solar Module Factory! These machines are so cool!

Petar showing the full size palm leaf

I´m always so fascinated with the efficiency of the workers in these factories. The Solvis factory was definitely no exception. Everyone knew their exact job, it all went so fast and it was all so precise. Parts of the modules were of course done
by machines, but the making of these modules no doubt needed the human touch to be perfect. I imagine it must be really hard work to do this job. Standing up all day, being so focused and precise in all you do. I am always so impressed! When I go to China
this fall, I´m actually going to work at one of these factories as a volunteer for a bit, so I´ll get to try it out myself then.

Solvis uses all the modules that are ”unperfect” on their own buildings. There are something ”wrong” with them, but Petar says they actually work just fine, and produce the same as more perfect-looking
modules.

After our factory tour, Peter took me to see the real solar palm, to lunch and then drove me back to my hostel. I of course had to go on some more sightseeing. Varazdin turned out to be a rather pretty city! A lot of the cities in Europe
has these amazing old towns with brick stone streets and pretty old buildings, flowers and parks. Sometimes also a castle. Varazdin was no exception!

The full size palm! Its outside the University Student Home Building in Varazdin.

Another cool little solar gadget. A chair, where you also can charge your phone.

Sightseeing in Varazdin!Here is the castle in the old town

Its a nice little city!

After Croatia I was supposed to go to Ukraine to see Europe´s largest solar park, but unfortunately it didn’t work out, so I went on holiday for like 2 weeks instead! Sad
for the solar journey, but the beach really wasn’t so bad either.

Next stop on the solar journey; Solitek in Lithuania. Stay tuned for the last travel and solar blog of the Eurotrip!

Activated Glass and two new countries

After my solar research visit in Halle, I took an overnight bus to the other side of Germany. To the city of Cologne. I had planned to meet my friend Marlene, whom
I met in Mexico four years ago. Since we met at a hostel in Cancun, and ended up travelling together a month in Central-America, we have travelled together once a year. It´s crazy how close you get when you experience so much together. Everytime we meet,
it´s like it was yesterday we got lost in the Tikal Jungle together, hitchhiked with the locals in Honduras and jumped into the great Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The friendship jumps back to where we left it the year before, everytime.

Me and my friend Marlene from Germany, in Cologne.

We met just in time to see the #fridaysforfuture Climatestrike Greta Thunberg started. The school children
striking for a better future! The strike was so large, with so many people, I´ve never seen anything like it before. My favourite sign was ”Daddy, where is the Netherlands?”

The second tallest Cathedral in Europe. It was so large it was hard to get it all into one photo.

We spent the weekend exploring Cologne, drinking champagne in the park, and catching up on last year´s events.

Me and Marlene exploring Cologne

Spending a weekend in Cologne with my friend was exactly what I needed after travelling alone for a month. It can get rather lonely here in Europe, as I´m travelling
so fast I don´t get time to make new friends like I normally to when I´m backpacking. But after an amazing weekend, I felt recharged and was ready to start travelling alone again. Fresh energy, and two fresh new countries to explore! Ready for
Luxembourg and Belgium!

I took another long distance bus and spent a full day exploring Luxembourg, followed by two more train rides to get to Bruges in Belgium.

Beautiful Luxembourg

The beauty of Bruges completely blew me away. What a place! Narrow streets surrounding the many canals, bridges and colorful houses. And oh, the many, massive churches. The
tiny cafees and restaurants in the narrow streets, with outside seating in the sun. Most likely the pretties city in Europe.

Bruges, Belgium

The whole city filled with beautiful canals like this.

Colourful buildings in Bruges

Wish I could stay longer in this city! Definitely one of the prettiest in the world!

So pretty after sunset!

I also visited Gent and Brussels, which obviously also was extremely beautiful. As I didn’t do a lot of research on Belgium before I went, the cities in this country completely
blew me away! After some sightseeing days, I finally got to the goal! A small place outside of Liege, where the BIPV specialist Issol has their hearquarter.

Could not exactly complain about the beauty of Gent either. Castles and churches, canals and beautiful buildings there as well!

Gent

Oh my, the WAFFLES in Belgium were insane! This one I got in Brussels.

Brussels. Enjoyed my massive waffle with this view

Issol is a solar glass manufacturer and a project developer of what they call “Active Glazing Solutions”. Which means they make glass that’s
not just glass. It´s glass with the ability to produce energy, and their job is to make pieces that can replace normal building materials.

They picked me up at the train station in the morning, their HQ was only 30 min outside of Liege. After
a few minutes in the car, we arrived at their office and factory building. A large building, covered with solar, which they obviously had made themselves. They manufacture all their modules right here at their own factory in Belgium. All the pieces to all
their projects. They took me through their factory, and I could see the workers all doing different pieces.

Me and Xavier, the market developer of Issol. All happy faces!

The solar roof over their own building

One can say Issol has specialized in specializing. Their idea is to always be able to make exactly what the architect or costumer wants. That requires a lot of creativity
I would assume. Obviously, they make the standards too, but most of their pieces are specially made to fit the costumer’s exact needs and wishes in every single project. That´s their market position, and that’s where they are able to stand
out in the crowd.

I asked what they do to sell this, if they don’t rely on the standards like most manufacturers do. They told me costumers usually contact them. They rarely have the need to go out and sell. I guess their reputation and reference
projects speak for themselves.

This
building is covered in Issol´s activated glass. Its in Liege, the city I was staying in when I visited them.

Me in Liege in front of the Issol building

When I was travelling through France earlier this spring, I went to Perpignan in south of France with the sole goal to visit the train station. I took the train
to Perpignan, just to spend an hour checking out the train station, only to take the next train back again. The reason being that Issol had made a massive waveformed see-through BIPV roof on it, which I really wanted to see.

The Train Station in Perpignan in France

During my
visit, the whole Issol team came to say hello, and I got a good presentation of the company, as well as a tour of their entire factory. Thank you so much Issol, for showing me a new part of the solar world!

Solar research in Germany

The Intersolar week was so great, but also very intens. I absolutely loved meeting all the new people in the solar business. I learned so much in
such a short week. After standing up all day, everyday, walking around, being super social and taking in so much new information – I needed some time to process it all. I needed to recharge.

So I went to Prague. It was only a 5 hour bus-ride from
Munich, and the Czech Rep was also a new country for me. I spent the first day at a spa. A small, 12 euro one, (as this is a budget trip,) but still so cozy, warm and relaxing. The rest of the weekend was spent exploring the city. It´s a really pretty
one! Just check this out:

Picturesque
views of Prague

The beautiful city of Prague!

Enjoyed some ice cream art

This past week, my solar journey has been focused on solar-research. I have been lucky to visit two different solar research facilities in Germany,
and thus had the opportunity to learn about two new fields within my profession! I find it so interesting to see the different points of view. Everyone I meet is an expert in their particular part of solar, and therefore naturally have their own views, focus
points and opinions about it.

Halle,
Germany. The home of two very interesting research facilities

The first company I visited was Fraunhofer CSP, located on the University Campus in Halle, a city close to Leipzig in Germany. We started the day by having a chat about what they are
working on and what their company does. It was also really nice to share some views on the general solar business of today. After a long talk, we all went to lunch together.

Fraunhofer CSP

The rest of my time there, we spent in the laboratory. Fraunhofer CSP focuses on solar-module testing. That means they put modules through a lot of different stressers, and then run tests
on how the modules reacted to the stressers. Temperature, heat/cooling, steam, and flashes are some examples of the stressers. The testing is run by special types of cameras to see how the module and the cells react. This way they can help their costumers
improve their products. They also make some modules themselves, but their main focus is on testing.

Researchers from Fraunhofer showing me around in the research test-lab! They explained the different machines in which the modules are exposed to stressers. This particular machine is used to test large modules on
temperatures.

Me testing exactly how light their lightweight modules are. They make their own modules as well sometimes, and try out different casings. This one didn’t weigh much more than a cardboard box.

Research for different uses of solar cells. Pretty cool project!

Scenic views in Halle, Germany.

The next day I spent with a company called CE Cell Engineering. While Fraunhofer CSP focuses on module testing, this company is actually developing a completely new solar cell processing
step, that can make bad cells – turn good. How cool is that? This completely new technology has not yet reached the large scale commercial market, so they are all still a bit secretive about it.

They also do different types of cells. Like this
one with holes in it, would provide more light if it had a glass casing.

But this is basically how it works: Their technology, named LECO, is a process which improves cell-efficiency and repairs low-efficiency cells. It works by bringing solar
cells through the LECO-process within the machine. Bad cells are brought up to normal scale efficiency. It can also make normal working cells even more efficient!

Their goal is to commercially produce this machine, which can be put in as a part
of the original cell-production. That way all cells can be more efficient from the very beginning. This method shows absolutely amazing results, and it´s so impressive looking at the before and after photos of the cells.

Check this out:
Electroluminescence Image of the same cell before (left) and after LECO process (right):

<5% efficiency

>20% efficiency

They also had a solar park on the roof of the laboratory! Making the company even greener!

Walking on sunshine, oooO

They told me how they came up with this ground-braking research idea by accidentally changing some parameters in a cell-test. And because of that, they discovered this completely
new method for improving cell efficiency. How amazing is that? I think a lot of new research has begun as a result of similar circumstances.

After they got the process patented, their research team is now working on their main goal; to produce
a machine performing the LECO process, directly in the original cell factories. They have already made several prototypes, and has even sold some of them to costumers.

They recently partnered up with a bigger company and are now working towards
their goal. Can you imagine how great it must be to be a part of such groundbreaking research? From the very start? The team was clearly in love with their job, which makes them even more inspiring.

Me, Eva and Eckhard from the research team! (Yes, it was a bit windy)Thanks for having me!

I feel so lucky to get completely new insight on how the solar business can, and will, evolve in the future. Both these companies work to make a better solar-powered world for today and tomorrow. This was my very first
meeting with the research part of solar, and I feel that has given me a deeper foundation and understanding of solar.

Thank you both, for having me! Stay tuned for the next step of the solar adventure in Belgium!